The Boil (Sweet Liquor to Wort)

1. Re: Does BIAB differ in Chemistry from Traditional Brewing?

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   First post by BIABrewer, 13 years ago

   

   Sweetness/Dryness
   
   Contrary to home brewing lore, the well respected Dennis E Briggs found that thin mashes do not affect the fermentability of wort. One high quality information source has written here that thinner mashes, perform better and allow for better extraction of the grain.
   
   Brewing chemistry is often contradictory so having a few ways of looking at the same subject may help some brewers. Dan Walker (ThirstyBoy) kindly provided the following to BIABrewer...
   
   Firstly, let’s look at...
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   Last post by BIABrewer
   13 years ago
2. Re: Does BIAB differ in Chemistry from Traditional Brewing?

   0 Replies 6985 Views

   First post by BIABrewer, 13 years ago

   

   Wort Clarity
   
   BIAB can give a higher volume of wort into the kettle depending on bag porosity and grain crush. In these instances, BIAB will give more trub and therefore a cloudier wort into but not out of the boil. At the end of the boil, with correct rub management, the clarity is exactly the same as a batch-sparged beer.
   
   A cloudy wort in the boil is nothing to worry about. One high quality information source has written here that a less clear wort into the boil actually produces a better...
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   Last post by BIABrewer
   13 years ago
3. Extract Brew Calculations with Biabacus

   2 Replies 4949 Views

   First post by Am33106, 1 year ago

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   Full disclosure, in my haste of ordering ingredients for an upcoming brew I picked up a kit recipe, Palmer Premium Beer Kits - Harold is Weizen - Hefeweizen, not realizing it was an extract recipe. Not wanting to discard the kit and waste more money I dug around looking for posts that might shed some insight on what to do if you wanted to plan an extract brew using BIABacus. I did find one that mentioned changing the Kettle to Fermenter Losses (KFL) in Section X. to 0. Although I don't agree...

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   Scott Thanks for the reply. I ended up going with my initial assumptions and brewing this based on the file I attached to my original post but couldn't take gravity measurements due to my hydrometer breaking on me. Depending on the sensory outcome of this beer, I may brew this one again to try to nail down some changes for anyone wanting to use BIABacus to calculate DME/LME recipes for a quick brew day. I will say that Lallemand Munich Classic is very active. I allowed for 2 gallons of head...
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   Last post by Am33106
   1 year ago
4. Whirlpooling with Immersion Chiller

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   First post by redlegger, 3 years ago

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   Well! Long time no Post!
   9 Years since i have joined this forum and while i havent been active i have visited on occasion to extract knowledge held withing these walls! I am still Biab brewer - proudly after all these years and continue to produce pretty fine beers. I tell you what, it is satisfying to have been apart of the evolution of BIAB into a legitimate and accepted method of brewing award winning All Grain beer!!
   
   Anyhow... i have a question regarding whirlpool and chilling with an...

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   Probably one of the biggest dissatisfactions we brewers have is transfers. We try to rush them but a good transfer relies on gentleness. So, maybe part of any brewing plan should be to savour a beer, read a little of a book, or look at the sky. In other words, let some stillness and thoughtfulness in on your brew.
   
   :peace:
   PP
   
   A slight addition to PistolPatch’s comments about giving it more time... As little as 30 minutes to start the transfer allows much trub to settle at the bottom of the...
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   Last post by Scott
   3 years ago
5. AHA forum discussion: Is a 90 Min boil needed?

   3 Replies 8039 Views

   First post by shetc, 4 years ago

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   Hi Guys,
   
   Check out this comment from Martin Brungard about using a covered 60 covered boil. Do you think this is appropriate for BIAB?
   
   Steve

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   Page 84 of the pdf linked here:
   
   Finally, the TBA value increased also with the boiling intensity. The lowest applied boiling
   intensity resulted in an increase of 14.9 TBA units, while the highest boiling intensity resulted
   in an increase of more than 20 TBA units. In every case, TBA measurement was more
   consistent than any volatile available, provided it is used only in brewery applications.
   Therefore the best heat load indicator of wort is ∆TBA, which reflects the TBA difference
   between the...
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   Last post by tizoc
   4 years ago
6. Heat Source Statistics

   2 Replies 9000 Views

   First post by Jmstroup, 6 years ago

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   Would other brewers give some experiences and statistics on using 3ring (approx 25MJ / hour rated ) and 4 ring gasburners (51MJ rated) on a 50L stainless kettle with say 37 liters of mash water - 34 liters of wort to boil? - what kind of times are you experiencing? and how much gas are you running through?

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   brilliant :thumbs: :champ: - very useful information - thanks a million
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   Last post by Jmstroup
   6 years ago
7. Can't bring new BIAB kettle to the boil on stove

   3 Replies 13236 Views

   First post by rsandilands, 7 years ago

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   I was using a 19 litre Big W stock pot for my 11 litre batches.
   
   But I had trouble fitting everything in with higher gravity beers and didn't really like the flimsy nature of the pot. Plus, the latter aspect made holding mash temperatures more difficult.
   
   So recently I bought a new 25 litre pot, much heavier in construction, and mashing in it was a definite improvement. Much more thermal mass meant less fussing over temperatures.
   
   However the downside of this became apparent when bringing to...

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   Do you have your kettle insulated? I put camping mats or something like that around my kettle. Just take care that it cant burn.
   
   Example:
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   Last post by Aries
   7 years ago
8. Refractormeter-reading with coffee-filtered wort?

   5 Replies 10609 Views

   First post by rvoith, 8 years ago

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   I use a refractometer during during boiling to keep a touch on the SG. Yesterday I started with 1.045, increasing up to 1.056 after 60 minutes of boiling. My receipe called for 300 grams of candysugar 15 minutes before boil-end. That increased the SG to 1.060. So, coming to the transfer to fermentation chamber, I took the last OG-reading and saw 1.057 :-) My hydrometer read 1.067.
   So, reading a lot again in this forum, I found an answer saying that refractormeter readings could be pretty...

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   It sounds like you are going through the exact same process as me! :lol:
   
   By the way I think the scale on your hydro is too wide (and/or deviations too small).
   I did consider getting a 0-50, and 50-100 hydro at one point but that meant more expense :angry: so just rely on the refrac now.
   
   There are good and bad points with both methods and it is your personal choice in the end which you use, but that pic highlights my problems with hydros IMHO .
   Cloudy wort means you cannot see the meniscus...
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   Last post by mally
   8 years ago
9. Using skimmers for hot break

   2 Replies 8942 Views

   First post by Mad_Scientist, 9 years ago

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   Does anybody use a skimmer to remove hot break? Pros or Cons? Is it a worth while activity?

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   For a minute I thought you had come up with a way to use a protein skimmer (aquarium) to remove trub.
   I don't know how they work but I think it would be great to be able to extract all liquid and leave pure solids behind.
   
   As for skimming; it seems it is one of those that some do some don't.
   As I no chill, and I will always end up with cold break anyway (and I always pitch within a week), I don't see the advantage.
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   Last post by mally
   9 years ago
10. Purpose of longer/shorter boil times

    4 Replies 10248 Views

    First post by nosco, 9 years ago

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    I have been reading up on boil time to try and find out why you use a 90 min instead of 60. I found this article.
    
    The info on hot break and cold break is debatable but still very interesting. The main point for me is that boiling can help break down sugars further but it can also effect colour.
    
    Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

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    Just thought I'd throw in my experience (from a relative newbie - less than 10 AG brews).
    
    I boil for 90 mins, why because both BB and PP said so, and I came here to learn.
    
    My schedule is:
    
    - A 90 min boil
    - 3 weeks in the fermentor (2 weeks usually allows fermentation to complete, plus an extra week to clear wort)
    - 4 weeks in the bottle (min)
    
    All my beers have been crystal clear, whether by luck or ...... I don't know, but happy to keep to a 90 min boil.
    
    I hope this helps, coming from not...
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    Last post by Yettiman
    9 years ago
11. Capacity of 40L buffalo

    4 Replies 9988 Views

    First post by Lars, 9 years ago

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    Will my 40L buffalo hold 35L water + a 7kg grain bill? Doing the Pliny clone tomorrow and just need to know in advance?
    Thanks
    L
    
    Sent from my XT890 using Tapatalk

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    Hi Lars, I have a buffalo urn, when you put your measurements into Biabicus you will see it calculates the total volume to around 43.2 litres. All you need to do is measure the depth and width and the smarts in Biabicus works out all the tricky stuff for you.
    
    So the volume right to the rim is a little more than the stated capacity. However a word of warning (from my own failure) don't fill the urn and grain bill right to the very top. The Swiss voil acts like a syphon. The guys here call it...
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    Last post by bundy
    9 years ago
12. From Kettle to Fermentor?

    9 Replies 16364 Views

    First post by the-erl, 9 years ago

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    I've so far got about 6 BIAB's under my belt and I'm loving the whole process but along with a few other questions, for another time and thread, when it comes to moving the wort from the kettle to the FV I have a few issues :scratch: .
    I haven't got an immersion chiller so I use my bath and sit my 50ltr stock pot in a cold bath, changing the water about 3 times, to get the wort to pitching temp, this probably takes about 45 mins ish.
    I've tried a couple of ways of transferring to my FV;...

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    A clothes peg works just as well as a clip. And that's all I have to say...!
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    Last post by Skink
    9 years ago
13. evaporation rate (boil off)

    13 Replies 19258 Views

    First post by paulg, 10 years ago

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    I completed my first brew with my new 70 litre pot today.
    the pot has a 45 cm diameter and a 4500 watt electric element.
    I used biabacus spread sheet which predicted a 10.21 litre loss to evaporation for 90 minute boil.
    If my measurements are correct I actually lost 13.47 so about 9 litres per hour,is this a typical loss for a pot of this diameter? ,my boil didnt seem excessively hard and was boiling at about 98 c as i live at 650 meters above sea level.
    I had my pid set to 99 but the...

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    I just bought a used Blichmann burner and it only has an adjusting valve on top of the regulator. The burner itself is HUGE. It'll be awesome for larger boils.. and I'll play with it for my next small batch.. the burner seems VERY WELL made. I'm thinking I'll really have to learn the valve on that one to avoid both burning off a ton of propane and/or boiling off a lot of my wort.
    
    Anyhow, I believe the result of my experience is paying close attention to where the valve is. With the Blichmann,...
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    Last post by Leafman66_67
    10 years ago